I thought maybe we should have a seperate thread for alBashir if that's okay with everyone else. i'm starting with the two arrest warrants.COURT ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR SUDAN’S LEADER

Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

A demonstration against the indictment of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan on Wednesday in Khartoum, the capital city.

Published: March 4, 2009

PARIS — Judges at the International Criminal Court ordered the arrest Wednesday of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan for atrocities committed in Darfur, but Sudanese officials swiftly retaliated, ordering Western aid groups that provide for millions of people to shut down their operations and leave.

After months of deliberation, the judges charged Mr. Bashir with war crimes and crimes against humanity for playing an “essential role” in the murder, rape, torture, pillage and displacement of large numbers of civilians in Darfur. But the judges did not charge him with genocide, as the prosecutor had requested.

In issuing the order, the three judges put aside diplomatic requests for more time for peace talks and fears that the warrant would incite a violent backlash in Sudan, where 2.5 million Darfur residents have been chased from their homes and 300,000 have died in a conflict pitting non-Arab rebel groups against the Arab-dominated government and its allied militias.

Within minutes of the court’s announcement, thousands of people gathered in central Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, denouncing the decision and waving national flags and posters of Mr. Bashir’s face.

The Sudanese government has long vowed to resist the court, and it summoned several humanitarian organizations to a meeting almost immediately after the warrant was announced, according to aid officials. As many as 10 groups received letters ordering them to leave or curb their work, according to people briefed on the meeting.

The British charity Oxfam said that the government had revoked its license to operate, a decision the group said could affect more than 600,000 people. The Dutch section of Doctors Without Borders, which provides health care in one of the world’s biggest camps for displaced people, in South Darfur, was ordered to leave the country.

“It happened right after the announcement,” said one aid official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of negotiations to persuade the government to back down. “The connection was clear.”

The warrant is the first in which the court, which opened in 2002 in The Hague, has sought the arrest of a sitting head of state. Other war-crimes courts have issued warrants for sitting presidents, including Slobodan Milosevicof Yugoslavia and Charles Taylor of Liberia.

“We strongly condemn this criminal move,” said Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem, the Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations, adding that the government would no longer work with aid groups it deemed hostile. “It amounts to an attempt at regime change. We are not going to be bound by it.”

But many human rights groups and Darfur exiles saluted the judges’ decision. Niemat Ahmadi, of the Save Darfur Coalition, called the warrant a lifeline for those living in camps. “It will change the mood of frustration and helplessness for our people,” Ms. Ahmadi said.

Richard Dicker, a director of Human Rights Watch, said the warrant was likely to isolate Mr. Bashir internationally. “This means he will be a fugitive, a man on a wanted poster,” he said.

In their statement, the judges called for the cooperation of all countries — not just the 108 that are members of the court — to bring Mr. Bashir to justice.

Legally, Sudan is obliged to arrest Mr. Bashir, but that seems unlikely. The court has no police force or military, and the United Nations peacekeepers in Sudan have no mandate to detain war-crimes suspects.

Beyond that, Mr. Abdalhaleem said, there is little chance that the president will be arrested in a friendly country, because many African and Arab states have rejected the prosecution of Mr. Bashir as counterproductive to peace efforts.

The question of genocide has also been divisive, but the judges said 2 to 1 that the prosecutor had not provided sufficient evidence of the president’s specific intent to “destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,” the most crucial issue in determining genocide.

The prosecutor had argued that the government tried to exterminate three ethnic groups — the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups — and that after driving them off their lands and killing many people, armed militias continued their genocidal campaign by raping and impregnating the women in the refugee camps.

The arrest warrant is likely to further complicate the debate over how to solve the crisis in Darfur. It came despite concerns from United Nations diplomats, the African Union, theArab League and some humanitarian organizations that such a move could provoke renewed violence and threaten the peace deal that ended an even more deadly civil war in southern Sudan.

One sign of fallout came almost immediately. The Justice and Equality Movement, a major rebel group in Darfur that signed a preliminary accord with Khartoum last month, announced that it would now reject negotiating with Mr. Bashir’s government.

“There will be some violence here and there,” said Alain Le Roy, the United Nations under secretary general for peacekeeping operations.

Mr. Le Roy said there might now be further delays in deploying United Nations peacekeeping troops to Darfur, where only about 64 percent of the force is in place. Still, he said Sudan had reassured United Nations officials that it would protect peacekeeping missions.

Some figures in the government have threatened bloodshed in response to an indictment. Salah Gosh, the head of Sudanese intelligence, was recently quoted in Sudanese news reports as calling for the “amputation of the hands and the slitting of the throats of any person who dares bad-mouth al-Bashir or support” the court’s case against him.

At the United Nations, Michèle Montas, the spokeswoman for the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said the Sudanese government had revoked the operating licenses for 6 to 10 humanitarian organizations, as well as seizing the assets of some of them. The Sudanese government has long accused aid organizations of collaborating with the court by providing data and testimony used to build cases against Sudanese officials, something aid groups strongly deny.

While United Nations agencies were not expelled, their work is often carried out by charities like the ones facing suspension, United Nations officials said.

The court issued warrants for two other Sudanese citizens in 2007 — a government minister and a former militia leader — but neither has been arrested.

The United Nations Security Council can postpone the prosecution against Mr. Bashir, but it has remained largely divided. Sudan’s supporters, including the African Union and Arab League, have called for the Council to suspend any indictment. But France, Britain or the United States would probably use a veto to block such a move.

Marlise Simons reported from Paris, and Neil MacFarquhar from the United Nations. Lydia Polgreen contributed reporting from Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, and a journalist in Khartoum, Sudan, contributed reporting.

PARIS — The International Criminal Court in The Hague said Monday that it had issued a second arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan, this time for three counts of genocide.

The arrest order will be added to the warrant issued in March 2009, in which the court said he should stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

All of the charges against Mr. Bashir are linked to the conflict in the western Darfur region of Sudan, where an estimated 300,000 people have died and more than two million have been uprooted by almost a decade of fighting between the government and rebels.

Even genocide — the gravest charge — may not bring the Sudanese leader closer to trial in The Hague any time soon. He has so far defied the court’s orders and denied all accusations. But because genocide charges carry a heavy weight, they may further complicate his international dealings and travels.

Mr. Bashir is already shunned by numerous leaders from countries who recognize the court’s jurisdiction — 111 countries adhere to it — and while the leaders of many Arab and some African countries continue to meet with him, others have warded off visits by warning that as court members they are legally bound to arrest him. As a result, Mr. Bashir has avoided a number of conferences and celebrations in Africa, Europe and the United States in the last two years.

It was not clear when the arrest warrant was served. The court disclosed the decision on Monday afternoon by posting it on the court’s Web site. The order said there were reasonable grounds to believe that security forces and militia under Mr. Bashir’s command had attacked the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups of Darfur in ways that “were calculated to bring about the physical destruction of part of those ethnic groups.” It cited torture, rape, the poisoning of water, expulsions and killings as part of what it called “the genocidal policy.”

The judges’ new arrest warrant came as a vindication for the prosecution, which has spent more than a year seeking genocide charges against Mr. Bashir. Judges in the court, the first permanent international criminal court, which opened its doors in 2002, must endorse the prosecution’s accusations. It is the judges who then call for an arrest, an extra step in the rules to safeguard against a possible rogue prosecutor.

Last year, the judges turned down the prosecution’s request to charge the president with genocide, saying that the evidence presented was insufficient. But an appeals chamber called this “an error of law,” because the judges had sought far higher standards of proof than were required to order an arrest, and it asked them re-examine the application.

In the arrest warrant issued Monday, the judges said there were “reasonable grounds” for three counts of genocide: genocide by killing, genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm and genocide by deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the ethnic groups. “Towns and villages inhabited by other tribes, as well as rebel locations, were bypassed,” the order said, adding that towns and villages of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa were singled out for attack.

The prosecutor, Louis Moreno-Ocampo, was attending meetings in Paris and could not be reached for comment.

The well-documented and brutal attacks on civilians in Darfur, including against aid workers assisting them, have caused much international indignation. But at home, Mr. Bashir was easily re-elected president in April, although the voting was marred by boycotts and reports of intimidation and widespread fraud.

This is the new article that's why I gave you the background on the warrant. He is to be in Nigeria this weekend. They were ordered to pick him up, but I haven't seen any more on it.

SITTING PRESIDENT STILL WANTED ON CHARGES OF GENOCIDE IN DARFURPosted: 07/12/2013 11:36 amBy Luis Moreno Ocampo and Tom Andrews

Three years ago today, an arrest warrant was released by the International Criminal Court for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide in Darfur. Yet today Bashir is a fugitive from justice and is the current president of Sudan.

The Darfur case was originally referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the United Nations Security Council, implying an obligation for the world to hold those wanted to account. The charges of genocide came on top of previous charges issued for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Even more inauspicious, it was ten years ago that the genocide that led to 300,000 deathsbegan in Darfur. Bashir's forces learned to use rape and hunger as silent weapons to commit genocide against some 2.5 million Darfuris. They are living in camps for displaced persons at the disposal of Bashir's forces. They are helpless, voiceless and with no hope for the future. Those who have the duty to protect them attack them. Darfuris need international authorities to help end a genocide that should have been stopped years ago.

Bashir is also attacking Sudanese citizens in the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. In addition to aerial bombardments and ground attacks, Bashir has again used hunger as a weapon, blocking international humanitarian access to those most affected by the violence.

In fact, it is the same individuals wanted by the ICC for crimes in Darfur who are overseeing the attacks in the South, not only Bashir, but also the former Minister of Interior and current Defense Minister, Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, and the former State Minister for the Interior and current Governor of Kordofan Ahmad Harun. Impunity has a cost of millions of new victims.The world once claimed ignorance of the Nazi atrocities. Fifty years later, the world refused to recognize an unfolding genocide in Rwanda. On Darfur, the world is officially on notice.

Yet, in the last two months alone Bashir was welcomed into Ethiopia, Eritrea, Qatar and Chad (a country that has signed onto the ICC) with barely a whisper of condemnation from the world's governments.

Such impunity echoes far beyond the borders of Sudan. As the first sitting president wanted by the ICC, Bashir is a symbol of what could be the destiny of Assad and other leaders. They are committing more atrocities to remain in power.

If Bashir is to be held accountable then the countries that enable his impunity must also be held accountable. And if the UN Security Council and the world's governments will not cry out against such an affront to justice, then it is up to citizens to do so. Last year millions watched the video seeking justice for the abuser of child soldiers Joseph Kony. The United States sent special forces to help track and apprehend him. Unlike Kony, we know exactly where Bashir is. We know where he travels and when.

The world will listen. Last year the outcry of activists and some Members in the U.S. Congress helped to bring pressure to bear on Malawi, both diplomatically and in the form of threatened loss of bilateral aid, resulting in a warning that Bashir would be arrested if he were to follow through on a planned visit. Malawi joins South Africa and Zambia as countries that have taken the positive step to commit to upholding justice if Bashir should try to visit. Other countries should do more to stop Bashir.

If the United States and China, Europe and Russia, the African Union and Arab League reach an agreement, Bashir will go and his criminal policies will end. Efforts like Bashir Watch will make sure that silence is not an acceptable option.

Ten years from now, we hope that the lesson before the world will be one of Bashir facing justice, not one of a repeat offender leading a new series of crimes against humanity and genocide. A decade of impunity is already too long.

Luis Moreno Ocampo is the former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at NYU Law School. Former Congressman Tom H. Andrews is the President of United to End Genocide.

mosaic wrote:It's mindboggling how Bashir is able to move about freely. Are these countries that allow him to visit afraid of him? Or are they more afraid of China?

You are right Mosaic but there is some hope maybe. When I get an update on this article I will post it. It's interesting to see what Nigeria does. For now I'm going to bed and watch Michael Clayton.

NIGERIA MUST ARREST AL-BASHIR

Nigeria has international obligation to arrest Sudanese president wanted by ICC for graves crimes in Darfur

Credit: Zambian Watchdog

New York/The Hague—Nigeria must honor its obligations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by arresting Sudanese President and ICC suspect Omar Al-Bashir or by cancelling his proposed visit to Nigerian territory, the Coalition for the ICC said today.

“Permitting President Al-Bashir to visit its territory without arresting him would constitute a failure of Nigeria to meet its obligations under the Rome Statute of the ICC,” said Stephen Lamony, senior adviser for the Coalition for the ICC. “If Nigeria and other members of the ICC are committed to ending impunity, they must not allow ICC arrest warrants to go unenforced, and at the very least must not accept visits from suspects like Al-Bashir.”

News reports indicate that Al-Bashir is due to travel to Nigeria on Monday, 15 July to attend a summit on HIV/AIDS. As a state party to the Rome Statute, Nigeria is obligated to arrest Al-Bashir should he arrive in the country.

Al-Bashir has been wanted by the Court since 2009 for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region. The following year, the Court issued an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir for the charge of genocide.

“The victims of the conflict in Darfur have suffered without justice for more than a decade due in part to the reluctance of some ICC member states to abide by the arrest warrants for Al-Bashir and other ICC suspects in Darfur,” said Lamony. “Nigeria must decide whether it will stand with Darfur’s innocent victims or ignore their right to justice.”

The ICC investigation in Darfur began in June 2005 after being referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council, which had determined the conflict there a threat to international peace and security. However, the Council has subsequently failed to ensure the cooperation necessary for ICC prosecutions to take place.

BACKGROUND: None of the four outstanding ICC arrest warrants against suspects in the Darfur investigation have been executed. The Sudanese government has openly defied and consistently refused to cooperate with the Court and the international community. On 26 March 2013, ICC pre-trial judges issued a decision of non-cooperation against Chad following a visit by Al-Bashir to the country. Similar judicial decisions were made by the Court in December 2011 and August 2010 and all were referred to the UN Security Council and Assembly of States Parties for them to take any action they deemed appropriate.

Summonses to appear have been issued for rebel leaders Abu Garda and for Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus for war crimes against African Union peacekeepers in Darfur. The two have been cooperating voluntarily with the ICC and the start of their trial is set for 5 May 2014. However, on 23 April 2013, the defense for Jerbo notified the Court of his death in North Darfur allegedly during an attack by a faction of the Justice and Equality Movement. The Court has not yet confirmed his death.

They can´t catch him, unbelievable. It´s been over a decade...And travelling freely! Although limited selection of destinations. He must get a lot assistance just to be able to get around. Surely he doesn´t rent a mule and ride to the markets.

How does holiday in Eritrea sound to you? Country has no official language. Runways are over 2 miles long (says a lot about their planes), railroads are partly functioning and old buses are the main means of transportation. No schedules, buses leave when they are full. Neighboring countries are equally sunny and appealing, like Ethiopia.

Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir yesterday fled the venue of the ongoing conference of the Special Summit of AU Heads of State and Government tagged “Abuja+12 Special Summit”.

A source who pleaded anonymity told LEADERSHIP that Al-Bashir was afraid that foreign powers might take the opportunity of his presence at the venue to effect his arrest, and he quickly left half-way into the programme.

A source at the Sudanese embassy confirmed to LEADERSHIP that the Sudanese strong man left the country yesterday evening.

Another source added that, during the summit, he declined reporters’ attempt to interview him and zoomed off about 2pm.

Commenting on the traffic congestion at the Abuja Airport yesterday, spokesperson for FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, told LEADERSHIP that the arrival of the august visitors to Nigeria might have played a large part.

Another source said that a movement involving the president of Kenya also contributed. The source said that the tight security at the airport yesterday was not unconnected with an attempt to scrutinise those coming and leaving the airport, just as efforts were intensified to ensure that Sudanese president Al-Bashir did not beat security and leave the country.

According to the source, following an alleged tip-off of his impending arrest by the Nigerian government, the Sudanese strong man had to quickly leave half-way into the programme to avoid arrest.

Judges at the International Criminal Court had ordered the arrest of the Sudanese president for atrocities committed in Darfur.

LEADERSHIP checks revealed that Al-Bashir was also absent at a dinner organised for the visiting AU Heads of State by President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday.

Why development is slow – JonathanPresident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday in Abuja said that political instability, insecurity and infectious diseases have impeded African leaders’ efforts at rapid development and effective optimisation of the abundant potential of the Africa continent.

However, Jonathan said across Africa infectious diseases have not only slowed down economic growth, they have contributed to the depletion of human capital, food insecurity and high maternal and child mortality.

Addressing African leaders at the ongoing African Union (AU) Special Summit of Heads of States and Governments on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Jonathan expressed the hope that together and with home-grown initiatives, African leaders can systematically and comprehensively address these tough challenges.

He said, “Our people are anxious for tangible results and concrete action to improve their quality of life. As we look forward to a productive summit, meeting the needs of our people by achieving these goals should be our collective resolve.”

Nigeria’s president also advocated that Africans should look inwards in the search for solutions, calling on African leaders to contribute to the replenishment of the Global Fund to sustain its noble mission.

“We must begin to de-emphasise reliance on external funding and importation of essential medicines required for our treatment programmes. We must stand in solidarity with one another, be proactive to our health challenges and increase intercontinental scientific research partnership and development efforts to complement the various national and regional plans already underway. Time is ripe for a final, concerted solution to these diseases,” President Jonathan said, maintaining that the “cost of inadequate action or no action at all will be too grievous to contemplate.”

His comments come 12 years after African heads of state adopted the Abuja Declaration in 2001, which requires individual governments to increase health spending to at least 15 per cent of national budgets.

The latest health spending in Nigeria is about 6 per cent of budget, which analysts have constantly criticised, unlike Ghana’s 12.5 per cent.

Also in his remarks, the United Nations secretary-general, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, told the gathering of African leaders that failure to maintain momentum can halt and even reverse the progress made so far.

Ki-Moon who was represented by the executive director, United Nations Population Fund, Dr Babatune Osotimehin, said, “My call at Abuja + 12 is for renewed leadership and increased domestic and international funding -- new investment in improved tests and drugs, stronger health services to delivering them.”

Ki-Moon tasked African leaders to place AIDS, TB and malaria at the centre of public health policy including in humanitarian aid, peace building, conflict resolution and development.

“Let us finish the job begun at the beginning of the century so we can bring greater security, opportunities and prosperity to all the people of Africa”

Furore as indicted Sudanese leader attends Abuja HIV/AIDS SummitPresident al-Bashir, who was declared wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) more than two years ago was in Abuja for the Abuja +12 Summit.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) had urged Nigeria to bar the Sudanese president from attending the health summit, demanding that the war crimes-indicted leader be arrested if he visited.

Nigeria is a member of the ICC, which has charged Bashir with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity over the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Associate director of the International Justice Programme at HRW, Elise Keppler, told journalists that Bashir’s visit marks “a real test of Nigeria’s commitment to the ICC”.

The Hague-based court issued the indictments against Bashir in 2009 and, since then, his visits or proposed travel to ICC member states have sparked repeated controversy.

Some court members including Chad, Djibouti and Kenya have allowed such visits, but others like Botswana, South Africa and Uganda have ensured that Bashir stayed away.

A number of states “have found a way out of this problem and Nigeria should do the same,” Keppler told AFP. If Bashir in fact visits, Nigeria “should arrest the ICC fugitive,” she added.

Countries that have signed on to the world’s only permanent court for war crimes and crimes against humanity have a legal obligation to arrest any indicted suspect found within their territory.

A statement issued by the Foreign Office Minister for Africa on Monday said Nigeria’s action undermined the work of the court.

Al-Bashir arrived in the country on Sunday for an AU Summit on HIV and AIDS, to the consternation of rights groups that had called for his arrest, following his indictment by the ICC for alleged crimes in Darfur.

He is accused of allegedly masterminding genocide and other atrocities during the Darfur conflict, charges which he has repeatedly denied.

Simmonds said: “The UK has a strong and abiding bilateral relationship with Nigeria.

“I am therefore disappointed that Nigeria has chosen to host President Al-Bashir of Sudan at an African Union event, despite International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants against him for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

“This undermines the work of the ICC and sends the victims a dismaying message that the accountability they are waiting for will be delayed further.”

The statement noted that the British government took seriously its obligations as a state party to the Rome Statute and consistently urged other state parties to do same.

Earlier on Monday, foreign affairs minister Olugbenga Ashiru had told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Nigeria shunned the ICC arrest warrant because of its commitment to AU position on the issue.

Ashiru, who is currently in Brazil for a meeting, said: “Sudan’s president is in Nigeria at the invitation of AU for the HIV and AIDS Malaria Summit.

“Remember AU in 2009 passed a resolution not to cooperate with the ICC on the indictment of President Al-Bashir.“However, he is not in Nigeria at our instance as Nigeria’s commitment to the AU remains firm.”

In a statement on Sunday, Elsie Keppler, Human Rights Watch International justice programme director, criticised Nigeria for being the first West African country to welcome the ICC fugitive.

On Monday, the Nigerian Coalition for ICC filed a suit urging the immediate arrest of Al-Bashir, saying that ``he is subject to ICC warrants and Nigeria is an ICC member’’.

According to the group, very few ICC state parties have allowed Al-Bashir on their territories -- Chad and Djibouti.Kenya and Malawi also allowed one visit, but avoided subsequent visits after diplomatic and public outcry.

Coalition wants court to order Jonathan to arrest Al-BashirA group, Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court (NCICC) had asked a federal high court in Abuja to issue an order compelling President Goodluck Jonathan to arrest his Sudanese counterpart, Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir.

In a suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/501/2013, NCICC and two other plaintiffs, Legal Defence and Assistance Project, and Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre have sued the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The plaintiffs, in an originating summons filed by their lawyer, Mr Chino Obiagwu, a copy of which was obtained by LEADERSHIP, is also asking an order of court to issue a provisional warrant of arrest against Al-Bashir pursuant to the warrant of arrest issued by the ICC dated March 3, 2009 and that of July 12, 2010.

Meanwhile, an international lawyer, Ahmed Adeniyi Raji (SAN) has said that the suit is defective and mischievous.

Raji, in an interview with LEADERSHIP, said the suit is defective in the sense that Al-Bashir is not a party to the suit seeking his arrest, and that the plaintiffs may have no locus standi to institute such a suit in the first instance.

As at the time of filing this report, it was not certain whether the plaintiffs had had a judge assigned to hear and determine their motion ex-parte. The court is already on vacation.

July 16, 2013 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese government sought to downplay the significance of the sudden return by president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir from Nigeria as further details emerged on his condensed program of work during his participation in the HIV summit in Abuja.

Sudan’s President Omer Hassan al-Bashir takes part in the African Union Summit on health focusing on HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in Abuja on July 15, 2013 (Getty Images)

"President Bashir returned normally to Khartoum after participating in the summit in Abuja to resume his work in Khartoum", his press secretary Emad Sid Ahmed told Reuters.

This explanation contradicted slightly with the one provided yesterday by the spokesman for the Sudanese embassy in Nigeria Mohammed Moiz who attributed Bashir’s sudden departure to other engagements without giving details.

The New York Times (NYT) quoted delegates at the conference as saying that Bashir abruptly left the room in the middle of an official lunch on Monday.

Furthermore, during the afternoon session, when Bashir was scheduled to speak, he could not be found confirming the unexpected nature of his absence even by the organizers of the conference and the hosts.

A Sudanese diplomat who would not give his name told The Associated Press that Bashir left at 3 p.m. Monday, less than 24 hours after he arrived and in the middle of a two-day summit which ends on Tuesday.

Bashir’s presence has stirred controversy given his status as an individual wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegations related to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

Conflict has raged through Darfur since 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribes took up arms against the government in Khartoum, accusing it of economic and political neglect. Khartoum armed Arab tribes to put down the insurgency.

Human rights groups and the United Nations estimate hundreds of thousands of people died in the conflict. The government says around 10,000 people were killed.

Sudan has refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court despite the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) referring the situation in Darfur to the ICC under a Chapter VII resolution in 2005.

The late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has forced the 2009 AU Sirte summit to adopt a resolution instructing members not to cooperate with the ICC in arresting Bashir.

Despite not being consulted into drafting this decision, several African countries that are ICC members used it as an cover to receive Bashir in spite of their theoretical obligations under the Rome Statute which is founding treaty of the court.This included Chad, Djibouti, Malawi, Kenya, and now Nigeria.

Furthermore, African nations and politicians accuse the court of unfairly targeting the continent in its choice of cases to investigate and prosecute.

But some experts say while this argument appears true on the surface, it does not hold water with a close look."It’s true all of the court’s current investigations are in Africa, but 7 out of 8 of them came about because the governments where the crimes were committed asked for the court’s involvement or the UN Security Council referred the situation due to the gravity of the crimes. So CAR [Central African Republic], DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo], Uganda, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire asked the court to get involved", said Elise Keppler, Associate Director, International Justice Program, at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

"[T]he Council referred Libya and Darfur. How can the court be targeting if they are responding to direct requests from governments affected or the council? The prosecutor’s office acted on its own initiative only in Kenya where there was wide international and domestic disappointment and frustration that the Kenyan government did nothing to prosecute heinous post-election crimes", she added.

Ironically the bulk of African states that were in the UNSC at the time voted in favor of referring the situations in Libya and Darfur to the ICC.

Bashir’s trip to Nigeria stirred the anger of human rights groups including the Nigeria Coalition on the International Criminal Court (NCICC) which condemned Abuja’s decision to receive the Sudanese leader and went to a local court on Monday with a motion to compel the government to arrest him in line with its obligations under the Rome Statute.

Diplomatic sources told Pan-African news agency (PANA) that the move by NCICC was the "last straw" for Bashir prompting him to cut short his trip.HRW welcomed what it perceived as the fruits of civil society pressure forcing the Sudanese leader to rush home."Business as usual is over for this head of state suspected of the most serious crimes committed in Darfur. Al-Bashir faced intense pressure for his arrest from local activists when he tried to visit Nigeria, including court action. Moreover, the examples of former Liberian president Charles Taylor and Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, who were surrendered for international trial for grave crimes after years of safe haven, show that the highest-level fugitives can and do ultimately face justice. But Nigeria and other governments should better play their part in securing his arrest as soon as possible. The victims deserve to see justice done and he belongs in custody" Keppler said.

Nigeria was forced in the past to hand Taylor, the warlord who began that country’s devastating civil war in 1989.In 2003, Taylor resigned under pressure and a promise from Nigeria’s government to give him a safe haven. When democratically elected leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf demanded his extradition in 2006, Nigeria came under huge international pressure and was forced to go back on its word and hand him over.

"The UK has a strong and abiding bilateral relationship with Nigeria. I am therefore disappointed that Nigeria has chosen to host President Al-Bashir of Sudan at an African Union event, despite International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants against him for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. This undermines the work of the ICC and sends the victims a dismaying message that the accountability they are waiting for will be delayed further", Simmonds said in a statement yesterday.

The Sudanese foreign ministry responded in a statement saying that the remarks of the British official amounts to a despise of the AU which is the organization that reflects the will of all African countries, pointing that African leaders in the AU’s Sirte Summit in 2009 decided not to cooperate with the ICC and renewed their decision in Addis Ababa’s summit recently.

The statement went on to say that the comments disregard the will of the African people and their democratic choices, considering it one of the worst examples of using double standards as well as moral and political inconsistency.

The foreign ministry further pointed that the British government has no moral grounds to speak on behalf of the victims of violence in Darfur, particularly as it harbors the leaders of the Darfur rebel groups who are responsible for the continuation of violence and assassination.

The US Embassy has also criticized Nigeria’s decision to welcome Bashir while the European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton issued a statement today expressing concern and urging Nigeria “to respect its obligations under international law to arrest and surrender those subject to an arrest warrant from the ICC".

But Nigeria brushed aside the international criticism saying that the event was organized by the AU.

"President Al-Bashir was in Nigeria under the auspices of the AU, based on the Assembly’s decision to convene the Special Summit in Abuja to deal with three diseases that together constitute a heavy burden on member states," the Nigerian foreign ministry said.

"Any attempt to make an issue out of the attendance of President Al-Bashir at the AU Summit will only amount to unnecessary shift from the important objectives of the special summit," it added.

"It is, therefore, a matter between the African Union and the international community," the ministry statement said.The ICC judges issued an urgent request to Nigeria to arrest and surrender Bashir and reminded the West African nation of its obligations.

“Accordingly, it is under the obligation…to execute the pending Court’s decisions concerning the arrest and surrender of Omar Al Bashir,” the three-judge chamber said in document made public on Tuesday.

The row that erupted over Bashir’s trip highlights the increasing diplomatic difficulty faced by the Sudanese leader since his indictment.

Many countries have asked Bashir publicly or privately to stay away from summits it is hosting while other world leaders refuse to meet with him. At one point in 2011 his plane was forced to return to its point of origin on his way to China after Turkmenistan and Tajikistan refused to allow him into their airspace.

In late 2011, a local judge in Nairobi issued a provisional arrest warrant for Bashir in response for a motion by the Kenyan chapter of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) after the government of then president Mwai Kibaki allowed the Sudanese president to attend the promulgation of the country’s new constitution in August 2010.

The ruling infuriated Bashir who expelled the Kenyan envoy and gave Nairobi two weeks to reverse the decision before imposing sanctions.

The government in Nairobi convinced Khartoum that it would appeal the decision which it did a few weeks later. The appellate court refused a request by the government to suspend the warrant against Bashir and ordered that it stays in effect until the appeal is fully heard.

It is not clear when a decision might be made on the case.Ironically the current Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta himself is awaiting trial at the ICC for his alleged role in the post-election violence of 2007. However, unlike Bashir he has cooperated with the court throughout the process which likely allowed him to avoid the isolation imposed on his Sudanese peer.

Another irony is the fact that Bashir was accompanied by his health minister Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, a former Darfur rebel leader, who stood before the ICC voluntarily after being charged in the 2007 killing of African peacekeeper.

ICC judges acquitted him saying that the prosecution failed to prove that ABu Garda played a role in the deadly assault that left 12 soldiers dead and wounded eight others.

He was supposed to participate in a two-day African Union meeting on health issues, but according to media reports, in the middle of an official lunch on the first day, al-Bashir suddenly disappeared – and never returned to the conference. He missed his scheduled speech and left the country less than 24 hours after arrival.

Was he feeling the heat of the ICC arrest warrants against him?Al-Bashir is sought by the ICC in connection with atrocities committed in Darfur, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. As a member of the ICC, Nigeria is obligated to cooperate with the court in the surrender of fugitives, which it failed to do by welcoming al-Bashir without arrest.

A number of African countries – including South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Zambia, Botswana, and Central African Republic – have made clear al-Bashir would be arrested if he entered their territory or avoided his visits by relocating conferences or insisting that other Sudanese officials attend instead.

Local activists in Nigeria were alarmed at the visit and stood with the victims of the Darfur conflict, voicing their outrage in the media. Prominent among them was the Nigerian Coalition for the ICC, which not only called for al-Bashir’s immediate arrest and surrender to the ICC, but even filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja to make it happen.

Soon after that court filing and as outcry over the visit emerged as a major news story, the Sudanese leader was safely on his jet. Perhaps he suddenly remembered the fate of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president whom Nigeria handed over to a special court in Sierra Leone in 2006 – and who was convicted of war crimes in 2012.

Al-Bashir is a fugitive from justice who belongs in custody. Nigeria should be embarrassed that it welcomed him and should make clear he’ll be arrested if he tries to return.

IM he must have gotten scared because his people might have told him:A number of African countries – including South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Zambia, Botswana, and Central African Republic – have made clear al-Bashir would be arrested if he entered their territory or avoided his visits by relocating conferences or insisting that other Sudanese officials attend instead.

Local activists in Nigeria were alarmed at the visit and stood with the victims of the Darfur conflict, voicing their outrage in the media. Prominent among them was the Nigerian Coalition for the ICC, which not only called for al-Bashir’s immediate arrest and surrender to the ICC, but even filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja to make it happen.

He left the lunch in the middle and ran back to Darfur. It would be good if he is getting frightened.

Lighterside wrote:His luck will run out eventually...every dog has his day in court!

Right. He might just disappear because I think it is getting too close. Seems like the other states might be getting tired covering him hopefully. I would love to see him go to court and be convicted to show the others because he is not the only one.

Aircraft carrying Sudanese leader forced to turn back while en route to swearing-in of new Iranian president.Last Modified: 04 Aug 2013 14:35[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Bashir had been en route to the inauguration of the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani [Reuters]

Saudi Arabia has denied permission for a plane carrying Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir to cross its airspace for the swearing-in of the new Iranian president.

"The Saudi authorities refused to give the plane carrying President Bashir permission to cross their airspace," Emad Sayed Ahmed, the presidential press secretary, told the AFP news agency on Sunday.

Ahmed said Bashir was not flying in his normal presidential aircraft but was using a plane rented from a Saudi company.

The Sudanese leader was travelling to attend Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's swearing-in before the Iranian parliament.

Ten leaders from around the region, including the prime minister of close Iranian ally Syria, had been due to attend Sunday's parliamentary session, Iranian reports said.

Ahmed said that when Bashir's plane entered Saudi airspace, the pilot informed authorities that it had approval "and that it was carrying President Bashir".

"But they said the plane didn't have permission," forcing it to return to Khartoum, he said.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court in 2009 and 2010 issued two warrants against Bashir for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide over the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

Khartoum's links with Iran came under scrutiny after Bashir's regime accused Israel of an October 23 strike against the Yarmouk military factory in the capital, which led to speculation that Iranian weapons were stored or manufactured there.Israel refused all comment on Sudan's accusation about the factory blast.

So.......let's see if Ahmed is doing a spot of face-saving, or if he tries again and gets thro with the right presidential plane! Watch this space.......perhaps the new Iranian president wants nothing to do with him. Wow.

Letter to Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal CourtFiled under Public Statements

Dear Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court,

On behalf of Act for Sudan, we thank you for filing the summons to compel the Nigerian government (Nigeria) to respect its legal obligation under the Rome Statute and to enforce the warrants of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the president of the Republic of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir (Bashir), for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

After the Arab League announced its solidarity with Sudan in March 2009 by rejecting the ICC’s first decision to issue a warrant for Bashir’s arrest, the African Union (AU) passed a resolution supporting the Arab League’s decision. The AU continues to instruct its 54 member states not to cooperate with the ICC by allowing Bashir to make official visits without fear of arrest, which creates a conflict of interests for state parties to the Rome Statute.

Nigeria has a legal obligation under Article 89 of the Rome Statute of the ICC and Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Laws of Treaties to arrest any person indicted by the Trial Chambers of the ICC who enters its national territory and to surrender such person to the ICC.

Your suit, filed on 15 July 2013, requesting that Nigeria immediately arrest Bashir in Nigeria’s national territory and surrender him to the trial chamber of the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, was instrumental in causing Bashir to flee Nigeria to Sudan, before his scheduled presentation at the “HIV/AIDS and Malaria Summit,” sponsored by the AU.

Your action in Nigeria is a model for civil society groups in member states that are obligated to arrest Bashir by providing a legal pathway to encourage support for the enforcement of the ICC arrest warrants.We support your efforts to end impunity and would appreciate the opportunity to work together in securing Bashir’s arrest.